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Borderlands

Two
genres that just aren’t combined enough are first person shooters and
role-playing games.It’s
an interesting dynamic that needs to be explored more.Shooting up enemies, all the while enjoying a visceral,
run-and-gun experience, combined with the loot gathering, stat tweaking
cerebral moments that RPGs are known for is an interesting juxtaposition
with a lot of potential.Gearbox
certainly seems to see possibilities in combining the genres, as that is
just what they are doing in their new game, Borderlands, and they’re
even throwing in the option for four-player coop play so players can
enjoy the experience with friends (or random internet denizens if
they're so inclined).

Taking
place in deep space, on the frontier planet of Pandora, players are
thrust into an isolated, lawless land far from civilization.Those who have dared to live on Pandora have a difficult life,
fighting off bandits, aliens, and others who would do them harm.Now there is a new alien force that has awakened, and players
must deal with it by finding the Alien Vault that will somehow set
everything right.

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The
first person shooter elements are everything one would expect from the
genre.Run around, shoot up
baddies, and even hop on vehicles to drive around blasting up enemies
even faster, and with bigger guns.If
you happen to be playing coop, players can choose what role that they
would like to perform on the vehicle, whether it’s driver, gunner, or
whatever.It has the
potential to be

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fun
working in a team as such, but then again, if you’re stuck playing
with a bunch of morons, probably not so much.

Borderland’s
RPG element has an almost Diablo-like quality.This is from the game having a mountain of loot for players to
find.This largely comes
from the huge inventory of guns that Gearbox is including in the game
via a complex content generation system.There are a number of weapon manufacturers in the game, with each
gun type having unique specs, as well as players having the ability to
augment their weapons.Loot
treadmills are very good for getting players to return to a game long
after it has been released, just
look at the Diablo series and World of Warcraft. It wouldn't come
as a surprise to see the same thing happen here.One thing that we’re not sure of yet is if this is the extent
of the RPG elements in Borderlands.Will there be an experience point system?We don’t know.

Between
this combination of genres, and the stylized approach to the game’s
visuals (just look at the screenshots!), there is plenty of potential
for Borderlands to be a hit.We’ll
be able to decide for ourselves when the game gets released toward the
end of this year.